A U.S. Marine who died 74 years ago in World War II will be laid to rest with full military honors this month.

Cpl. Raymond Clark Snapp, who was killed in action on Nov. 20, 1943, in the Battle of Tarawa, will be buried at the Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Keithville on Sept. 15.

Snapp’s remains had been in an unknown status since his death but were recently identified, said Maj. Tim Kronjaeger with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Snapp was born Sept. 8, 1919, and raised in Bonita, Texas. In 1941, at age 22, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and was assigned to Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, Second Marine Division.

According to information provided by the Marine Corps, Snapp’s unit landed on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands in an attempt to secure the island against Japanese resistance.

“Over four days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated,” the report states. “Cpl. Snapp died on the first day of the battle.”

Snapp was 24 years old at the time of his death.

In 1947, Snapp’s remains were repatriated to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Oahu, Hawaii, but were not identifiable at the time and were buried in the Battle of Tarawa Unknowns in 1949.

Kronjaeger said the relative wishes to remain anonymous. Some extended family also lives in Bonita, Saint Jo and Nocona, Texas, he said.

Snapp’s remains will be escorted on a flight from Hawaii to Dallas shortly before the burial date. Marines, police and the Patriot Guard Riders will escort a procession with Snapp’s remains from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Osborn Funeral Home in Shreveport.

At 9 a.m. on Sept. 15, his remains will be escorted to the Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Keithville, and a burial service with full Marine Corps military honors will begin at 10 a.m.